The End - Visions of Apocalypse

Werner sighed. “I don’t know why we ever built this cursed thing in the first place. If it works, then the world will essentially end. If it doesn’t, then it will have failed its purpose and the world will still end. What’s the point in creating something if you can never test it to see if it works?”

“Ignorance is bliss, Emil. Wouldn’t you want to relive all of the wonderful events of the past?”

“Not if I knew that there would be no future.”

“And what if we’ve already activated the machine once? What if we’ve relived this very moment a thousand times before? Does that make you any less eager to see what the next moment will bring?”

Werner contemplated for a second. He smiled. “I suppose not. Damn these hypothetical questions! We should have never built this cursed thing.”

“You already said that.” Heinrich laughed. “Perhaps we are running in a loop. What do you think we’re destined to do next?”

“I think destiny dictates that we call it a day, head to the tavern, and get completely and utterly smashed.”

Heinrich smiled and nodded. “I can see a pattern forming already.”

* * *

John followed them through the park, keeping his distance. There were three of them; a tall man with red hair, a little girl, and Kara. They all smiled and laughed together. It drove John mad seeing Kara looking so happy about all of it, seeing the joy she once felt from him coming from some other man.

Everything had failed, time and time again. He had tried to show her that they were soul mates, tried fruitlessly to recreate the circumstances of their first encounter, reliving all of the agonizing years before their meeting. He had tried taking shortcuts, forcing their meeting long before it was supposed to happen. Hardest of all, he had tried to forget. He realized that the problem was him. He wasn’t the man she fell in love with. He was a shadow of himself; an empty silhouette of the man he used to be.

Every little change held repercussions; everything had to be the exact same. It was impossible. But he kept trying to win her over. He had to, as much as it hurt him. All he had was time. It was this or nothing.

Kara and the redheaded man exchanged words and a long kiss, and then he departed, leaving Kara alone with the girl. Now was John’s chance. He approached her.

“Lovely day today, isn’t it?” John asked.

She nodded dismissively. “Yep.”

“Great day for a walk.”

“Mmmhmm,” was her agreement. John stared at Kara, but she avoided eye contact. Speak to me, Kara. Look at me, please. At least give me that. She kept looking away.

The little girl looked up at John and smiled. “Hi!” she said.

He stared at the little girl. She had green eyes and curly red hair. He hated her. “Hello. What’s your name?”

Kara quickly intervened. “Elena, honey, I told you. No talking to strangers.”

John’s eyes flared open. “Elena!” He shouted. “Elena? It wasn’t enough to give a child to another man, you had to steal our daughter’s name too?”

Kara backed away in a panic. She pulled the girl close to her. ”Leave us alone, please.”

“Talk to me, Kara! Treat me with something other than hate and disgust!”

“Why do you know my name?”

“Your maiden name is Vanhemert. You like classical music. You’re a Libra. I’m your soul mate. I know everything about you.”

“Please, just leave us alone!”

“I made a vow; until death do us part. I mean to keep that vow, Kara.”

“Get away from me!” she screamed.

“If only you knew!” John yelled. “If only you knew what I’ve put myself through for you!”

* * *

Heinrich was sitting at the bar, looking into his nearly empty glass of beer and wondering if he should order another. He wondered if it was his fate. A good enough excuse. He signaled the bartender and pointed to his glass.

While waiting for his drink, he wondered what the future would bring and what part he’d have in it. Wondered if the device was a blessing, or a curse. He turned to Werner. He was reading a newspaper, his eyes skimming forward and darting back as he read each line.

“About this time restoration instrument we’ve made,” Werner said.

“What about it?” Heinrich responded with feigned disinterest, as if he wasn’t spending every waking moment thinking about it himself.

“Well, what if it works?”

Heinrich paused. “Then we go back and relive our lives in blissful ignorance.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. If there ever comes a time, god forbid, that we actually have to use it… I mean, what’s to say we haven’t reset once already?”

“Nothing, I suppose. Why worry? Nothing to be done about it. There’s no way to alter the future without knowing what the future is first.”

There was another moment’s silence. “What if someone did know the future? What if someone could remember?”

The bartender brought Heinrich’s beer over. Heinrich narrowed his eyes at Werner. “How exactly?”

“I don’t know how. But what if they could?”

Irritated, Heinrich shook his head. “Why does it matter, Emil?”

Werner lowered his newspaper on the bar and slid it over so that Heinrich could read the page: